McClain: After doing so much right, Kitna still gets wronged

NFL NOTEBOOK

Published 6:30 am, Sunday, March 7, 2004

In a raw deal if there ever was one, Cincinnati's starting quarterback job was taken away from Jon Kitna and given to Carson Palmer even though neither did anything to deserve the switch.

It was a money-driven move, pure and simple. Palmer, the top pick in last year's draft, didn't play one down as a rookie. But now he's the starting quarterback. He must be the greatest practice quarterback in history.

"I thought long and hard about this," coach Marvin Lewis said when announcing the decision.

What did Kitna do that caused management -- owner Mike Brown, according to sources -- to instruct Lewis to demote his starting quarterback? Well, nothing, actually.

Here are some of the things Kitna did last season:

·He took every snap and helped the Bengals improve from 2-14 to 8-8. They came within one game -- a loss at home in their last regular-season game -- of posting their first winning record since 1990.

·He threw for 3,591 yards, completed 62.3 percent and compiled a passer rating of 87.4, ranking ninth in the league.

·He helped the Bengals rank 13th in offense, an improvement from 18th in 2002.

No wonder Kitna was demoted.

Well, there was this matter of Lewis claiming Kitna couldn't throw the ball down the field well enough.

"The one thing that Marvin said is that they wanted to try and throw the ball over the top of people more," Kitna said. "I just wish they had given me that opportunity because whenever we tried to throw the ball over the top of people, we were pretty successful. But the opportunities weren't as many as I would have liked, or as many as the guys on the team would have liked."

Palmer, who didn't like spending every down of his rookie season collecting splinters, is excited about the opportunity and understands the pressure that comes with it.

"I still have a lot of work to do, (but) it's definitely what I wanted," said Palmer, who watched his alma mater, USC, win a share of the national title last season. "I'm leaps and bounds more comfortable compared to when I first came in."

History lesson

-- If you're going to overpay a player, do it for someone who's durable, consistently effective and whose career should be on the rise. New Texans offensive tackle
Todd Wade
fits that description.

For those howling that the Texans overpaid by giving a right tackle a $10 million signing bonus, here's some historical perspective: After the 1999 season in which the Titans lost the Super Bowl, right tackle Jon Runyan received a contract proposal from the Eagles that included a $10 million signing bonus.

The Titans refused to match. Just about everyone berated the Eagles for overpaying a right tackle. In the four seasons in which Runyan has played for the Eagles, they've been to the playoffs four times, including the NFC Championship Game the last three years.

Benefit reaping?

-- If the Eagles have as much luck with former Titans defensive end
Jevon Kearse
as they've had with Jon Runyan, they might reach their first Super Bowl since the 1980 season. At some point, perhaps fans and media will look back on the $16 million signing bonus as actually underpaying Kearse, assuming he's healthy and stays that way.

But keep this in mind: Kearse has missed almost all of the last two training camps because of injuries, including a sprained ankle and pulled triceps. He missed 12 games in 2002 because of a fractured left foot that eventually required two operations, including a bone graft.

Kearse missed two games last season with a high ankle sprain. Last season, he had 9 1/2 sacks in the first nine games. Over Tennessee's last nine games, including two in the playoffs, he didn't have a sack. He missed two of those because of injuries. So he failed to register a sack in the last seven games in which he played.

Good money after bad

-- Although he hasn't won a game since 2001, quarterback
Kurt Warner
, 33, continues to get paid big bucks in St. Louis. Last week, he received a $1.25 million roster bonus. No one has been interested in trading for him.

"We made a big bet on Kurt last offseason when we paid the $6 million option bonus," Rams president John Shaw said. "For whatever reasons, he didn't have a productive year at all.

"His contract right now, it's almost impossible for us to trade him or release him without having a gigantic cap hit. So his position, at least until after June 1 when the cap dynamics change is pretty much solidified on the team."

Last Jag standing

-- After quarterback
Mark Burnell
was traded to Washington and defensive end
Tony Brackens
was released, receiver
Jimmy Smith
was left as the only remaining player from Jacksonville's 1996 team that reached the AFC Championship Game. ... The Redskins gave up a third-round pick for Brunell, who turns 34 in September. They gave him an $8.6 million signing bonus. He didn't play last season after suffering an elbow injury. He suffered two concussions in 2002. Since 1999, Brunell has a 19-30 record. ... Last season, the
Steelers
hoped
Amos Zereoue
would be their starting running back for a few years. Now they're trying to trade him for a low-round pick. ... The Steelers might waive outside linebacker
Jason Gildon
, who had six sacks last season. Any 3-4 team would be wise to check him out the team's career sack leader who is 31. ... Two former Rice players were promoted last week.
Jeremy Bates
, who played baseball for the Owls, was promoted to assistant quarterbacks coach at Tampa Bay. That means he'll be coaching
Chris Simms
. Former linebacker
O.J. Brigance
was promoted to director of player programs by the
Ravens
.

On his way out?

-- The Titans had the worst cap problem but managed to get under the $80.6 million limit without restructuring the contract of running back
Eddie George
, who gets a $1 million roster bonus and a base salary of $4.25 million. If he doesn't agree to give them some relief, he could be released. ... The Patriots wanted to keep veteran nose tackle
Ted Washington
but not at the price the Raiders gave him. He'll be replaced by former Texas A&M player
Ty Warren
, who was a No. 1 pick last season.

John McClain covers the NFL for the Chronicle. His NFL Notebook appears on Sundays.